Strange: Stretch run is uphill for Vols

Football seasons fall into patterns. The Vols have usually fought through a tough October that includes Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.

November is time to take a deep breath, then get a second wind for the downhill stretch run that passes through Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

The deep breath usually takes one of these familiar forms:

* An open date.

* Memphis, or one of its mid-major colleagues.

* A marquee non-conference opponent like Notre Dame or Miami.

This year is different.

There's no time to catch a deep breath. Instead, there's LSU and Arkansas -- a double-whammy that can knock the breath right out of you.

For the first time since 1937, Tennessee ends a season with six consecutive SEC games in as many weeks.

It's seven SEC games if you go back before the Vols' Oct. 14 open date and count Georgia.

LSU is on its way to Neyland Stadium on Saturday and then the Vols are on their way to Arkansas the following week.

That's LSU, with the nation's top overall defense and the SEC's top scoring offense.

That's Arkansas, the only team unbeaten in conference play and the nation's fifth-ranked running outfit.

Asked what he thought of finishing with a six-pack of SEC wars, head coach Phillip Fulmer replied, "I don't know. I'll tell you when it's finished.''

Fulmer has politely let the SEC office know he doesn't think much of it. No other league team has as intense a finishing stretch.

"It's the 12th game,'' Fulmer said. "That's complicated things.

"It's really hard to play 12 games with only one open date. Some people are going through the season without even having an open date.''

This year appears to be an aberration for UT, not a trend.

In 2007, Louisiana-Lafayette pops up in the early November slot followed in '08 by Wyoming.

But this year, this week, it's LSU. And that's enough to keep Fulmer from even getting a look-ahead headache about how to deal with the Razorbacks.

"We'll have to play our best football of the year this week,'' Fulmer said, "and we're not worried about anything beyond that right now.''

The scheduling hiccup comes at an interesting time for the Vols. It catches them in a resurgent season at 7-1 with a top-10 ranking.

In other words, with a nice stack of chips on the table.

Tennessee hasn't been 7-1 and ranked in the top 10 since, well, since two years ago.

That's when Notre Dame came to town on Nov. 6 and busted quarterback Erik Ainge's shoulder and upset the Vols.

Which gets to the question of whether playing a very good LSU team is really any more demanding than playing a Notre Dame or a Miami at this juncture of the season.

"Its' probably not any tougher,'' said Fulmer, "but the consequences are much bigger if you're trying to win a conference championship.''

David Cutcliffe, UT's offensive coordinator, has been coaching in the SEC since 1982. He sees a glass half-full.

"Sometimes late in the year when you're preparing for somebody you haven't played before, that's tough,'' Cutcliffe said.

"So I kind of like playing conference games at crunch time and you know where you stand.''

One year ago this week, the Vols were staggering more than standing.

They had just lost to South Carolina, offensive coordinator Randy Sanders resigned and they were on their way to South Bend to get spanked by Notre Dame.

Tennessee has done a 180 since then. But as Fulmer said, the Vols will have to play their best football to survive this week and next.

They fell short of that and still were resilient enough to beat Alabama and South Carolina. But that was October.

Turn the calendar to November, when more will be required. This year the stretch run starts uphill.